The big story here at this year's RMAF has not been a particular superior room, or a manufacturer's particular success in bringing great music audio hardware or software into the world, but rather the inaugural Rocky Mountain International HiFi Press Awards 2015, which were presented during the evening of October 2nd, 2015 at the Marriott Hotel here in Denver.
RMAF organizer Marjorie Baumert and Roy Gregory of Audio Beat presented awards designated in 20 categories, selected and voted upon by "anonymous ballot of the world's leading HiFi press publications." The presentation of the awards was quite efficient compared to other awards shows, in the presence of a festive group of members of the greater audio community who were here in Denver for RMAF. Designers, manufacturers, audio press, recording company people, even a stray musician or two, were among the group that gathered on the top floor of the Marriott to participate.
The winners of the pioneer "Class of 2015" in the twenty designated awards categories were announced, and nicely framed awards were handed out to those who were present to collect them. (Those categories and winners are listed below.) Roy Gregory acknowledged that there may have been some discussion about process and results, but that it was a good thing to get this annual awards event underway.
I personally felt a sense of fellowship among those present, from peers honoring other peers in a varied basket of categories. As I witnessed the announcement of the individual awards, I felt a sense of camaraderie in the room, and I hope that with whatever modifications to the awards process might occur going forward, that this newly created annual tradition will evolve and continue as a direct outgrowth of the activities of the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival. I am personally pleased to see that several manufacturers and pieces of gear that I have been covering this very weekend here at RMAF are winners. Hey, do I know how to pick 'em?
And the RIHPA2015 winners are:
CD Player: Aesthetix Romulus Signature
D/A Converter: PS Audio DirectStream
Music Servers and Computer Based Audio: AURALiC Aries
Mobile Player: PonoMusic PonoPlayer
Turntable: VPI Industries Classic Signature
Pickup Cartridge: Lyra Etna
Tonearm: VPI Industries JMW-3D
Phono stage: Rogers High Fidelity PA-1A
Integrated Amplifier: Devialet Expert 200
Preamplifier: Audio Research Reference 10
Stereo Power Amplifier: PS Audio BHK Signature 250
Mono Power Amplifier: Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty
Bookshelf Loudspeaker: KEF LS50
Floorstanding Loudspeaker: KEF Blade Two
Headphones: HiFiMan HE1000
Headphone Amplification: MOON by Simaudio Neo 430HA
Power Cable: AudioQuest NRG WEL Signature
Signal Cable Analogue: Nordost Valhalla 2
Signal Cable Digital: Atlas Mavros Ultra S/PDIF
Power Conditioner: IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius
Racks, Platforms & Supports: Harmonic Resolution Systems RXR Audio Stand
Best Audiophile Recording (Digital): Chesky Records, David Chesky & Jazz in the New Harmonic: Primal Scream
Best Audiophile Recording (Analogue): Analogue Productions, Roger Waters: Amused to Death
Innovation: Master Quality Authenticated MQA
Value for Money: AudioQuest JitterBug
Life Time Achievement: Dieter Burmester of Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH
